Huge public win in Hamilton

The province's transit authority wanted Hamilton's new light rail transit (LRT) to be completely privatized. But on Aug. 9, Hamilton citizens and Hamilton City Council said an emphatic no!

The provincial transit authority, Metrolinx, had set up the bidding system so that Hamilton's publicly owned and operated transit couldn't even bid to operate and maintain the LRT.

But Hamiltonians have been burned by privatization before. Hydro. The 407. And the city's own privatized water treatment was a disaster. Citizens rallied and on Aug. 9, they prevailed: City Council will demand that the city's public transit authority operate and maintain the LRT.